A Cinderella Story: Through Her Father's Eyes
by island.dreamer17
Summary: Troy Bolton and his daughter Emma chronicle important events through the song "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman. Songfic.


**So I just started writing this and the whole thing just came together. When I first heard this song, I thought of what a great songfic this might make. **

**This is my first songfic, so please be nice. :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical, and I am not in any way affiliated with High School Musical and its products except buying them as a customer. I also do not own the song "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman. **

**P.S. there's an extra space after the first line and it's bugging me... and I don't know why it's there, how to fix it, or why it is so persistent to be this way. Sorry about that! EDIT: Oh! I fixed it! Happy me. :)  
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She spins and she sways  
_To whatever song plays  
__Without a care in the world  
__And I'm sitting here wearing  
__The weight of the world on my shoulders_

"Daddy!" Emma Bolton cried as her father walked through the front door. "Guess what, guess what?"

"What?" Troy Bolton smiled at his youngest daughter.

Emma twirled. "I learned a new dance today!"

In the kitchen, Troy's wife Gabriella turned on the radio to listen to some music while she cooked.

Emma began her dance. It wasn't the dance she learned at dance class that day, but it was an impromptu dance that she apparently loved.

Troy sighed. He'd had a rough day. He and Gabriella still lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and he was now the head coach of the University of Albuquerque Redhawks. The boys on his team had been rowdy during practice, and it was only one week before their State playoff game.

_It's been a long day  
__And there's still work to do  
__She's pulling at me  
__Saying "Dad, I need you," _

"Daddy come on!" Emma, now dressed in a tutu instead of her jeans and t-shirt tugged on Troy's hand. "I wanna show you my dance!"

"Alright, sweetie," Troy said, smiling. "But only for a minute. Daddy's got work to do."

Emma began to hum the music for her dance and twirled in endless circles, bounding here and there and back over here and back over there. Her older sister Kristen appeared just in time to see the big finish. "Ta-da!" Emma exclaimed.

Kristen, who was sixteen, and Troy, both applauded. "Great job, honey," Troy said. Turning to his eldest child, he smiled. "Hey, Kay, how was your day?"

"Fine, but you don't have to rhyme," she answered, giggling.

"Daddy guess what?" Emma jumped into Troy's lap, this time clad in the Cinderella princess costume she received for her birthday.

"What?" Troy gave his full attention to his daughter. Kristen returned to her homework in her room.

Emma showed him a piece of paper. "There's a grand ball at school," she said in her best grand English accent, "And I want to practice my dancing."

_"There's a ball at the castle  
__And I've been invited  
__And I need to practice my dancing  
__Oh please, Daddy please?" _

Troy happily obliged, his daughter standing on his feet as they both waltzed around the room. Gabriella, who had quietly finished dinner, was standing in the doorway watching them. "You two are so cute," she commented, snapping a picture.

_So I danced with Cinderella  
__While she is here in my arms  
__Because I know something the prince never knew  
__Oh I'll dance with Cinderella  
__I don't want to miss even one song  
__Because all to soon the clock will strike midnight  
__And she'll be gone . . ._

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_She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed  
__She wants to know if I approve of the dress  
__She says "Dad, the prom is just one week away  
__And I need to practice my dancing  
__Oh please, Daddy please?" _

"Daddy, please? Mom promised you'd take me dress shopping this weekend and it's the last week before prom!" Emma Bolton pleaded as her father worked on a play.

Troy set down his pen. "All right, get in the car. How much did your mother say you could spend on this prom dress?"

"She said to find a good deal and you would know a good deal when you saw one," Emma answered.

"And who are you going to this prom with? Your girlfriends, I hope," Troy said as he got into the driver's seat.

"Oh no, Dad. Jake Elliott from varsity basketball asked me."

"Jake the senior?" Troy turned to look at his daughter.

"Dad, I'm a junior in high school! He's not that much older than me. Really, he's just like you. Star of the team, he even joined varsity as a sophomore, like you!" Emma was radiant.

Troy smiled as he pulled into a parking lot at the local mall. "Come on, we've got a dress to find," he said.

Three hours later, they found the perfect dress. At least, Emma's perfect dress [link in profile]. Although Troy would have preferred it not be strapless, he had to admit that his daughter looked gorgeous in it.

"I think that's the one, Emmy," he said as she modeled it. "What's the price?"

The saleswoman butted in. "It was originally $259, but this is a last-season dress, which cuts the price in half to only $129.50. And, we're having a 20% Last Weekend to Buy the Perfect Dress sale, so that brings it down to $103.60. And, since you two are so cute together, father and daughter buying a prom dress together, I'll cut that down to $98.60 just for you."

"Thank you," Troy smiled awkwardly at the saleswoman. "That sounds like a deal, eh Em?"

"Perfect, thanks Dad!"

"Oh and Dad?" Emma asked once they were again seated in the car. "Mom wants me to take dancing lessons, could you drop me off at the studio?"

"Why don't I teach you how to dance," Troy suggested.

Emma's face lit up. "Thanks! I already know how to dance, thanks to the ballroom lessons in sixth grade," she made a face, "But it would be great to brush up on my skills."

Troy smiled.

_So I danced with Cinderella  
__While she is here in my arms  
__Because I know something the prince never knew  
__Oh I'll dance with Cinderella  
__I don't want to miss even one song  
__Because all to soon the clock will strike midnight  
__And she'll be gone . . . _

* * *

_Well she came home today with a ring on her hand  
__Just glowing and telling us all they had planned  
__She says "Dad, the wedding's still six months away  
__But I need to practice my dancing  
__Oh please, Daddy please?" _

"Em, you're glowing," Gabriella told her now twenty-one-year-old daughter. "What's up?"

"Well," Emma began, somewhat childishly and giggly, something Troy hadn't seen her act like in years, "Jake came by campus and took me to dinner last night." Emma chose to attend Troy and Gabriella's alma mater, the University of Albuquerque, and was studying music theory, dance instruction, and psychology.

"And," Gabriella urged.

"And," Emma held out her left hand. "He proposed!" Jake chose to attend the University of New Mexico in Santa Fe, and often drove up to see Emma. He played basketball for the U of MN Lions, rivals to the Redhawks, and Troy often saw him at games.

Gabriella squealed and hugged her daughter tightly. "Congratulations! When's the wedding?"

"Six months, after we both graduate," Emma said. Troy let out a sigh he didn't know he was holding in.

Gabriella, quietly noticing that Troy was uncomfortable with his youngest daughter finally getting married like their other four children, stepped into the kitchen with the excuse that dinner needed to be started.

Once her mother left the room, Emma turned to her father. "Dad, I know the wedding's still a long way off, but . . . I need to brush up on my dancing some more."

Troy smiled and stood, offering his daughter his hand. "I'd be happy to," he replied.

Six months later, Emma and Troy danced together again, at her wedding reception. She and Jake were happily married, and the "Father-Daughter Dance" was just the thing that Troy needed, for closure with his youngest daughter.

"You're all grown up," he choked out as they danced. "Just three days ago you were a princess, begging me to dance with you at a ball. Two days ago Jake asked you to prom, and we found the perfect dress. Yesterday, you came home glowing, telling us Jake had proposed. And today . . . today you're getting married. Tomorrow, you'll be telling me you're pregnant, and the day after that you'll be telling me I'm a great-grandfather . . ."

"Life moves fast, doesn't it?" Emma whispered.

Troy nodded.

_So I will dance with Cinderella  
__While she is here in my arms  
__Because I know something the prince never knew  
__Oh, I will dance with Cinderella  
__I don't want to miss even one song  
__Because all too soon the clock will strike midnight  
__And she'll be gone._

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**Tell me what you thought? Good? Bad? **

**.**


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